San Antonio Interim Police Chief Anthony Trevino speaks during a press conference held Thursday Sept. 24, 2015. Three San Antonio Police Department officers were arrested Thursday on charges including aggravated sexual assault, compelling prostitution and official oppression.
Officers Aaron Alford, Alejandro Chapa and Emmanuel Galindo were taken into custody by the Live Oak Police Department following a months-long investigation into complaints filed by women who said they were duped into having sex with the officers. less

San Antonio Interim Police Chief Anthony Trevino speaks during a press conference held Thursday Sept. 24, 2015. Three San Antonio Police Department officers were arrested Thursday on charges including ... more

All three officers face a charge of official oppression, and Chapa and Galindo are charged with aggravated sexual assault and compelling prostitution.

Police Sgt. Javier Salazar said the officers were impersonating members of the vice unit and that the investigation they used to lure the women never existed.

He said the officers each have less than five years on the force.

The investigation started in Live Oak when one of the women called police there June 16 to report that she was sexually assaulted by a San Antonio police officer, Live Oak Police Chief Ken Evans said.

“It was evident something was going on when we started talking to the victims,” Evans said.

“In no way did they know they were getting involved in prostitution,” he added.

According to an affidavit, one woman was referred to Chapa and Galindo by Alford and was told that she could make between $35 and $1,500 an hour and up to $5,000 a day if she worked as a police informant. When the woman said she was interested, Alford gave her a contact number, the affidavit states.

When she called the number, a man told her to meet a supposed undercover officer at a coffee shop.

There, the affidavit states, she met a man named “John,” later identified as Galindo, who did not show his badge. The woman said that although she felt uncomfortable, she trusted him because Alford, who was her friend, was a police officer and had referred her to him.

“John” said he needed to perform a series of tests to see if she could handle stress, and the two agreed to go to her apartment.

The tests consisted of her drinking beer and performing various tasks, including standing blindfolded in a bikini, dancing, “twerking,” performing a lap dance on Galindo, kissing him, getting naked and streaking across the living room, and finally having sexual intercourse, according to the affidavit.

She signed a confidentiality contract stating that she could not discuss what occurred or she would be arrested by a federal agent and face 10 years in prison.

Days later, a nurse from Methodist Transplant and Specialty Hospital reached out to a Live Oak detective, saying the woman attempted to kill herself by overdosing on pills as a result of the incident, the affidavit states.

During the “test” with Galindo, the woman recalled blacking out, noting that he was on top of her when she awoke and that she tried to push him off, the affidavit states.

When detectives traced her phone records to the suspects’ phone records, they discovered exchanges between the two officers that indicated that another woman was tested as well.

When investigators reached out to that woman, she said Galindo and Chapa offered her a chance at undercover work with federal agents.

On two occasions, she had sexual intercourse with the officers, though she didn’t want to, she told investigators. The officers promised to assist her in gaining custody of her siblings and offered to pay for the costs of an attorney.

The woman told police that she was referred to them by a man identified as the manager of a Northwest Side ice house, the affidavit states.

The manager told investigators that he recruited several females, noting that he was promised $500 per person. But he said he never received any money.

An employee at the ice house said Thursday that the manager left a month ago on his own.

In a separate incident outlined in another affidavit, a manager of a downtown bar was also offered money by the officers to recruit women. The manager participated in a fake practice scenario set up by Chapa and Galindo to train two women supposedly for undercover work.

After the training, the two women went to an apartment with Galindo and Chapa, who referred to himself as “Mike.”

One woman said she had sex with Galindo “though she didn’t want this to happen,” the affidavit states. She did so because the officers promised to pay her cash for participating in an undercover operation, as well as dismiss a DWI charge pending against her in Travis County, according to the affidavit.

At one point during the investigation, officers searching through Galindo’s computer discovered contracts between him and the women, the affidavit states. The contracts listed each woman’s relationship status, bra and garment sizes, and what they were willing to do.

During a news conference Thursday, SAPD interim Chief Anthony Treviño and Evans emphasized the importance of having people come forward to authorities in similar circumstances.

“When it’s one of our own, it makes it that much more important having a good relationship with community members,” Treviño said.

Officials said anyone involved in the case as a witness or a victim can contact police at 225-TIPS.